


Barbara Queen

by lollzie



Series: Summer of Gotham [5]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timeline, F/M, Revenge, Season 1 what if, Summer of Gotham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 05:45:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lollzie/pseuds/lollzie
Summary: A look at what may have happened if Barbara had won the fight between her and Lee during season 1. And how she could have used it to her advantage.





	Barbara Queen

**Author's Note:**

> For the Summer of Gotham challenge. Week 5 - Canon Divergence

During her college years Barbara had been in her fair share of catfights. She could bite, scratch and pull hair with the best of them, years at an all-girls private school and then another three at one of the hottest sororities in the country would prepare even the meekest of wallflowers. But she had not expected innocent little Dr Lee to be such an equal opponent.

The brunette was giving as good as she got, lunging forward with a shard of broken mirror from the bathroom and nicking Barbara’s side, blood quickly soaking through her dark dress. With a feral scream she pushed Lee off her, so she fell onto a cabinet with a cry. Her hands reached for Lee’s throat, squeezing desperately as the other woman hit out, eyes watering as she tried to gasp for air. A sudden sharp pain at her temple caused Barbara to let go, her hands instinctively reaching towards her head, coming back red. Lee’s hands were grasping at a picture frame, the corner stained with Barbara’s blood. She faintly realised what had happened, but as black spots swam in her vision the realisation left just as quickly.

Lee lunged for her again, the two women toppling to the floor. Barbara didn’t know what she was doing anymore, hitting and kicking like a frenzied animal in a desperate bid to gain the advantage. She threaded her fingers through Lee’s short hair, pulling down so sharply that her head hit the floor, temporarily stunning her. Knowing it was now or never, Barbara kicked at Lee’s feet so she lost her footing over her, flipping the pair so that their roles were reversed. Twisting her fingers around Lee’s shoulders Barbara smashed her head against the floor until the other woman stopped struggling underneath, finally going limp.

The apartment was still around her, nearly everything that was breakable and expensive in thousands of pieces and completely ruined. A near animalistic sound broke the silence, a mixture of a sob and scream and it took Barbara a second to realise that it was her. Blood was pouring down one side of her face, half-blinding her, and with a glance down she could see that her legs were similarly stained from the stab wound in her stomach. She couldn’t feel any pain yet, but she knew enough to realise that that it’d be due to the adrenaline still coursing through her veins.

A moan from underneath her alerted her to the doctor that she was still sat on, though Lee looked nowhere close to even reviving consciousness. Barbara’s blood boiled at the sight of her, still looking so perfect even after such a bloody fight. What did Jim see in her? He couldn’t really be satisfied with such a prissy could he? She was such a perfect know-it-all, how was he not bored of her already? She didn’t deserve him, she didn’t see Jim for who he was, didn’t appreciate how lucky she was to have him.

The glint of the discarded mirror shard caught her eye and Barbara itched forward to take it. To plunge it down int Lee Tompkins chest, severing vein, artery and any damn organ she could. She wanted to mutilate her, to ruin that pretty little face of hers so that any hope of an open casket would go up in smoke. The urge was overpowering but before she could reach forward, Barbara stopped, a feeling of intense calm washing over her. If she killed Lee now the woman would die a martyr, everyone would know her name.

She would be heralded a hero, her photo plastered in every magazine and newspaper Gotham had to offer. And Jim would never get over her, he was a lover of unnecessary suffering like that. And what would happen to her? She would be locked away quicker than she could blink, never to see the light of day again. No, Barbara couldn’t let that happen, she wouldn’t. The world around her was becoming fuzzy. She tried to move herself off of the unconscious woman underneath her, but her limbs were too heavy, no longer obeying her wishes.

“Oh my god,” a familiar voice gasped. Looking up Barbara met Jim’s horrified gaze, Bullock and that monster Falcone behind him, all looking equally shocked. “What happened?”

“Help me,” Barbara gasped, limbs shaking like a newborn lamb’s as she attempted to stand, almost falling as an intense wave of nausea hit her. To her surprise, two hands wrapped around her, pulling her up, arms enveloping around her frame.

Over Jim’s shoulder she could see Bullock attending to Lee, breathing a notable sigh of relief when he checked her pulse. Bitch must still be alive then. It was only till Jim pulled away, placing a hand on one shoulder and using the other to wipe away tears does Barbara realise she was still crying.

The gaze Jim giving her is soft, softer than she’s received in more time than she cares to admit. There’s pity there too, and normally Barbara would hate that. She would scream and snarl like a caged animal until no-one thought she was weak and breakable anymore, but she realises she can use this. Jim loves to be the saviour, and she can hand herself right over to him, finally getting what she truly wants.

“Oh Jim, it was awful,” it doesn’t take any pretence to get the tears to fall, she’s already a mess and she doesn’t want to think about how bad she looks. No doubt her make-up is completely ruined, by the combination of blood, tears and snot that are currently streaming down her face. “Lee… she just… she just went crazy. I don’t know what I did but she just went for me, screaming like an animal.”

“That doesn’t sound like Lee,” Bullock sounds suspicious, phone in one hand as he starts dialling, presumably for an ambulance.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Barbara said, her voice wobbling as she clutches to Jim tighter. To her delight she notices him glaring at Bullock in an attempt to quieten him. Maybe he would believe her after all. “She’s always been so nice, but it was like she… she snapped.”

“Shhh,” Jim pulled her closer, his arms wrapping protectively around her. “We’ve called for an ambulance, we’ll get you all checked out. You’re fine.”

“You promise? You won’t leave me?” Barbara asked, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

Jim was silent for a moment, biting his lip in deliberation. “I promise, I won’t leave you Barbara.”

It’s like all the fight leaves her at those words, the world becoming dark and fuzzy. She feels her legs giving way, Jim’s grip the only thing preventing her from falling to the floor. It’s one-nil to her, and she’s determined to keep Lee from scoring.

}}}}}}}}}}}

  
The trial of a Gotham socialite versus GCPD doctor was unsurprisingly a public one but Barbara relishes in, getting her story out to as many people as she can, Jim at her side like the loyal lover he is, wracked with guilt that he had somehow played a hand in it all.

He hasn’t seen Lee, locked up in Gotham State Penitentiary without bail, though she knows he wants to. But Barbara’s known Jim for a long time and she’s always been able to play him how she wants. All it takes is a couple of ‘nightmares’ of the incident, a few failed, messy attempts of independence and a lot of tears; and Jim banishes the idea of meeting with his ex, because that is what Lee is now. An ex.

Barbara’s not quite sure what she is. Sometimes Jim holds her at arm’s length, obviously remembering how badly their relationship had broken down, but every so often his restraint breaks. He forgets to keep the barrier in between them, settling on the sofa like they had done as couple, pushing past her in the kitchen in the mornings, his hand brushing her waist without conscious thought. She sees the way he looks at her, like she’s something delicate that needs protecting, but she also sees the longing and desire that are burning brighter with every passing day. The look only magnifies when she walks into their now shared living room in only her skimpiest, silk dressing gown, a personal favourite of his.

She spends a lot of time in the penthouse apartment that was once hers and Jim’s. She would want nothing more than to go outside, soak up the atmosphere and pose for the cameras that are laying in wait at the entrance, but that would ruin her part. She’s meant to be broken, jumping at every passing shadow so a hermit she becomes.

The cameras can wait, she’s already planned her magnificent return back to society, Jim on her arm as she wears a beautiful ballgown for a gala, no wait, a charity ball. That paints her in such a better light. Jim will be on her arm, she knows it, because whilst she can’t leave the penthouse out of terror, he doesn’t dare out of a sense of duty, after all, he is the only one she trusts now. The only one she can bear to be with. And soon, he’ll love her like he once did. Barbara can already see him falling for her once more.

}}}}}}}}}}}

“Miss Kean! Miss Kean!”

“Give us a smile miss!”

“What are you expecting from today’s proceedings?”

All around her there are yells, reporters desperate to get the latest scoop. A camera flashes in front of her face, temporarily blinding her and she clutches to Jim’s arm who swipes away at the journalists with the other. Eventually they make it into the court building, the shutting of the doors cutting off all the noise from the street outside, though if Barbara strains her ears she can still hear them calling her name.

They shake the hands of their lawyer, a Miss Kate Spencer, the best money can buy before going into the courtroom. Barbara spots Lee straight away and it takes all her willpower to not start laughing right then and there. She looks awful, skin pale with massive bags under her eyes. Her normally voluminous bob is flat and greasy. Instead she plays her part perfectly, stumbling over her feet, hands shaking and bottom lip trembling. As expected Jim’s hand slips into her own, squeezing tightly.

“You can do this. You’re fine, I’m here for you,” he whispers into her ear and she nods with feigned determination. Lee had seen their whole interaction and her poker face cracks as she glares at Barbara, something Jim doesn’t miss either. It couldn’t go more perfectly if she tried.

The trial runs smoothly, but Barbara hadn’t been expecting much else. Although Lee’s lawyer was decent in his own right, Kate was the best and most expensive in Gotham, a hefty sum of Barbara’s inheritance lining her pockets, obliterating each and every argument coming their way. She made sure the jury were firmly on Barbara’s side from the start, bringing special highlight to her parent’s murder and Jason’s kidnapping of her.

The blonde had been nervous at first when the action plan had been outlined to her, in case Lee’s team tried to use it against her, stating it made her crack but Kate had proven once more why she was the best in not only Gotham, but also the country. It turned out Doctor Tompkins wasn’t the saint she tried to pretend she was, responsible for an Arkham inmate’s death a year before starting at the GCPD. She had never been formally investigated, and it was likely she hadn’t played a major role in the patient’s death, but Kate had put her own spin on it and the jury had lapped it up.

Despite her cool assurances Barbara couldn’t help but feel nervous as she filed into the court-room one final time to hear the verdict. Her palms were clammy and her heart thundering in her chest. Lee didn’t look much better from where she was stood, not tearing her eyes away from a blank space on the wall.

“And how do you find Doctor Lee Tompkins in relation to the charge of attempted murder?”

“Guilty.”

“For the charge of grievous bodily harm?”

“Guilty.”

Barbara could cry with joy at the verdict, she wants to jump up down and pop open the bubbly but she settles on squeezing Jim’s hand. When she hears Lee’s sentence she could cartwheel across the judge’s desk she’s so elated.

Ten years in Arkham. Without any chance of parole.

To her credit Lee doesn’t cry. Barbara supposes she could respect the other woman for that, most people would be a quivering wreck, shame it’s her only likeable quality.

The journalists are even more desperate to get a scoop as she leaves the courtroom, Jim’s hand in her own. She doesn’t say anything, still playing the part of traumatised victim, though she does manage a small smile. A sign of her regality and that she is a survivor.

The cameras are still flashing as their taxi rolls up to the front of the building, though the security stops them from getting too close.

“Thank you for everything,” Barbara whispers into Jim’s ear, getting close so he’ll hear her over the din. “I know how hard that must have been, but it’s meant the world to me. You’ve been my rock.”

“I meant what I said to you Barbara. I’m here for you, I always will be,” Jim says, and Barbara can see he means it. She wants nothing more than to kiss him but she doesn’t want to mis-step. Although they’ve been in each other’s company almost solidly since her and Lee’s fight, and she knows Jim wants her, they haven’t taken that major step yet. There hasn’t even been a kiss on the cheek.

Barbara knows what she wants, and she knows that to get it she needs to play the long game.  
Jim however seems to be on the same page, because suddenly he’s leaning down, his lips against hers. It was short and sweet, but to Barbara it felt like there were fireworks going off, though that may have something to do with all the cameras going off in their faces.

The next day their kiss is the front page of the gazette. Barbara keeps it, folding it away and hiding it in her underwear drawer. Because it’s a sign, the ultimate confirmation that she’s won and is on her way to the top. But this time she’s not going to be content with being at the head of Gotham socialites, no this has given her a taste for much more. She wants to be Queen of Gotham, and god forbid anyone get in her way.

She had already made one bitch burn and she wasn’t afraid to do it again.


End file.
